(Note! I sent the actual recording to you through email.)
Host Intro: As long as you’re living, birthdays happen to everyone, every year. But the emotions attached to this special day seem to differ from person to person. Birthdays can bring some people bouts of fear and loneliness and bring others feelings of hope and excitement. Alexyss Hadden spoke to a person whose birthday is just a few days away to get her opinion on the subject.
TRACK: I’m sitting with Marty Delsoto in her living room as she watches her comfort show, The Great British Baking Show, and winds down for the night. She is 41 years old and less than a week away from 42. She begins by sharing how she feels about birthdays.
ACT: MARTY: I feel both excited, because my birthday is near Halloween, so I get to do kinda, you know, out-of-the-box things. And I also feel like they come and go too quickly so it’s bittersweet. So I’m in my 40s now and I feel like it’s just a reminder that I’m getting older and it seems like one birthday to the next, it happens in the blink of an eye so it’s teaching me to enjoy each year to the best of my ability because they come too quickly.
TRACK: Although the years seem to pass by too fast, she has still found a way to take something positive from each one through lessons.
ACT: MARTY: One thing I learned from this past year is one to set boundaries, teach people how to treat you. Even loved ones tend to overstep at times and you have to let people know where you’re at, as well, because they don’t always want to hear your story and your venting, but when it comes to them they want to be, you know, they want your full attention so I am now setting boundaries.
TRACK: As she brings the power of setting healthy boundaries with her, she has another goal for this upcoming year.
ACT: MARTY: What I hope for the new year is for me to be more present and put my cellphone to the side a bit more so this way I am fully experiencing my experiences, and fully experiencing my family and friends and creating memories without all the clutter.
TRACK: Birthdays come and birthdays go. But like any situation, if you can find the light (of say, a candle on top of a cake), you can see birthdays for what they really are – another year to grow, learn, and enjoy this world. For Baruch College, I’m Alexyss Hadden.
AMBI: Netflix Sound (ta-dum) / TV playing very low in the background
*The interviewee’s name was changed to protect her privacy.